


wrap me up

by starfleetbanana



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: 5+1 Things, Fluff, M/M, Possessive Behavior, Sharing Clothes, Twitter, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-11
Updated: 2016-11-11
Packaged: 2018-08-30 07:22:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8523838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starfleetbanana/pseuds/starfleetbanana
Summary: “Give me my jersey back, I’m not wearing yours” Andrew says and Neil furrows his brow because he’s pretty sure there’s a 10 on his jersey, except he didn’t get to look at himself in the mirror, and-5 times Neil wore Andrew's foxes jersey + 1 he didn't.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Also known as the dramatically fluffy sharing of clothes and the reason I'm dead. Inspired by a check please fic and how much I miss the foxes. Also tweets because I love social media fics too much. Enjoy!

i.

Neil knows he shouldn’t go running at five in the morning when it’s this cold but he also knows he needs it. There’s something about him that craves the sensation of being under no one’s control. He’s free, no one can hurt him, and he relishes on the prospect of experiencing the same freedom every morning.

The burning pain in his eyes when he’s too tired makes him a bit clumsy while he gets dressed, but he’s used to it, he’s never needed that much sleep on weekdays anyway. When he runs a different kind of pain burns through him, especially on his calves and his lungs and he feels like he needs to go faster and faster to get _somewhere,_ but then he remembers now he’s running because he wants to, because he enjoys it and needs it, and not because he’s being pursued.

He’s sweaty and sticky but way more awake, all insecurities and toxic thoughts left aside when he goes into Fox Tower and gets into the shower as silently as possible. They’ve a match that afternoon and though he trusts his team, he can’t help but think the expectations are too high and he’s not used to that. Everything used to be self-imposed and it feels weird to have people’s constant attention on him, but he has to get used to it if he wants to make it to Court.

Sighing, he gets out of the bathroom in his boxers. His hair is uncomfortably wet, long curls sticking to his forehead, but he feels so much better he can’t help but let out a smile when he sees Andrew sleeping. It doesn’t feel quite like happiness, he doesn’t know what that’s supposed to feel like but he’s content, he feels _so alive_ and it’s fine, he knows it’s fine.

He has a class in an hour or so, so he considers getting his reading assignment for Monday done and he sits on the sofa after closing the door to their room. Andrew always senses when someone is around and though he’s sure he’d probably awaken before it’s better to let him sleep in on Fridays.

After finishing about half a chapter he gives up and goes get properly dressed before anyone’s up. He never thought he’d feel comfortable enough in his own skin to walk around without a shirt on but Andrew’s helped a lot with his confidence and it’s nice now the rest of the team knows enough to stop themselves from asking questions.

He searches for the orange of his jersey and puts it on. It doesn’t make him feel particularly ridiculous, in fact, it motivates him to get through the day to finally play Exy and he doesn’t have that much to do, so he goes to class without daring to look at his own reflection still, and gets weird looks from people, as always. He doesn’t really talk to anybody yet, and he probably should since he’s staying, but that particular class doesn’t really make him want to talk to anybody.

After class he goes to the library, gets a cup of coffee and sits down to try and work on his homework, though the only thing that comes to mind is the other team, their game, and the Foxes’ plays. He’s not anxious, but he’s worried nevertheless.

“Josten” He hears Andrew’s voice behind him and it doesn’t startle him. It’s weird, because he used to be so alert and defensive yet when it comes to Andrew he knows he’s got nothing to be afraid of, he doesn’t even notice Andrew’s movements before his hand comes to rest on the back of his neck, “Give me my jersey back, I’m not wearing yours” Andrew says and Neil furrows his brow because he’s pretty sure there’s a 10 on his jersey, except he didn’t get to look at himself in the mirror, and-

 _Oh,_ oh.

“Shit, sorry, didn’t notice” He answers and for a second he wants to laugh because it’s funny how natural it comes to him to share not only a room and a bed with Andrew, but also a life. They move around each other naturally, almost in tandem, always knowing what the other will do, and orange is orange anyway, so what’s the point of taking a moment to think _this is my life now, this dumb jersey could belong to the man I share a life with_?

He feels eyes on him and though he’s used to it by now, since whenever Andrew gets into the library just to look for him and be too loud in such a quiet place everybody stares at him, now it makes much more sense. He’d been wearing ‘Minyard’ on his back all day and instead of feeling like an embarrassing mistake and quite uncomfortable for having people think maybe he was trying to get a message out there, it makes smirks because who cares if there’s an “03 Minyard” on his back when he himself is sure a great part of him belongs to that five foot goalkeeper?

He finally turns around to smile knowingly at Andrew and laughs at his expression. His face looks kind of like it always does, but his eyes look slightly different and Neil knows he shouldn’t feel a flash of pride for making Andrew react to him wearing his jersey but he can’t ignore the fact Andrew’s gonna have to wear a jersey that smells of him the rest of the afternoon.

“Don’t do it again, I’ll kill you if anyone else sees you” He says before turning around and leaving the library. Neil doesn’t follow him back to Fox Tower immediately and he pretends not to laugh when he sees the mess Andrew’s made of his closet looking for an orange jersey, _anything_ but Neil’s one.

Neil smiles again when he hands the jersey back to Andrew to put his own one on and Andrew stares at him with feigned annoyance the rest of the afternoon.

Insecurities and pride left aside, the Foxes win and no one but Nicky dares ask if he really saw Neil wearing a jersey that belongs to a certain Minyard, or if he was dreaming. Andrew’s not happy about it.

ii.

The Foxes aren’t supposed to do anything like self-promotion, but the girls insist on wearing their orange jerseys even when they’re in another city where no one really cares about them, except Exy fans do, apparently. It doesn’t matter because the day of the game they’re wearing their away jersey which is much less aggressive to the eye and though Allison has no problem matching the jersey with the rest of her outfit and making herself look amazing, as always, Neil isn’t so sure he feels that comfortable wearing a neon orange jersey in the middle of a convenience store two states from home.

The hotel rooms are nice and they made sure to have enough alcohol to get through the night and a limited ice cream supply to have a bonding night as a team. The baby foxes are thrilled and Andrew and Aaron aren’t, as always.

Nicky talks way too much during movies and Allison’s mission is to make sure he’s busy enough eating and drinking to shut the fuck up, whereas Renee and Neil are in charge of keeping Andrew from fighting with any of the baby foxes by giving him a tube of ice cream and making small talk whenever necessary.  

It works for half the movie, and he’s sitting between Andrew and Nicky on the floor, head resting on a pillow in a very uncomfortable angle, and it’s not much of a surprise. He feels Nicky’s eyes on him and he’s trying so hard not to stare back but he doesn’t want to make him talk so he keeps his eyes on the TV. He’s actually interested in the movie and Andrew apparently is too, considering it’s about a crime investigation when Nicky gasps.

“Is that a hickey?” It catches him with a spoonful of ice cream mid-air. The noise startles him, the spoon flies and lands somewhere on the carpet and the cheesecake brownie flavoured ice cream is all smeared on his jersey.

“The fuck, Nicky?” Neil asks pinching the bridge of his nose. He hisses feeling the ice cream melt quickly on the fabric and it feels so gross he has to stand up and clean himself before going to his own room to change.

“Shit, sorry! Is it a hickey, though?” Nicky inquires with bright eyes and a knowing smile at Andrew and Allison wants to die because she couldn’t keep him under control. It’s only a matter of seconds before Andrew punches him, so Renee decides it’s the perfect moment to comment    on the movie and act surprised. Andrew stares at her in silence for a few seconds before following Neil out of the room, still holding the tube of ice cream in his hands.

Neil’s fumbling with his clothes when Andrew walks into the room they’re sharing, trying to get it clean so it won’t be disgusting when he washes it later. Then he cleans the patch of skin that’s sticky and looks for a new shirt.

“Wear this” Andrew says, offering him his own jersey.

“It’s fine, I brought a spare t-shirt just in case” Neil says, reaching for a grey soft t-shirt that’s one of his favourites before Andrew interrupts him again, throwing the jersey on top of his duffel.

“Wear this” He repeats and Neil puts it on while Andrew looks for a t-shirt for himself, “You’re gonna complain all night long if you don’t show your stupid Fox pride in front of everyone”.

“You sure?” He asks and fuck it, he knows Nicky’s gonna ask more questions but he feels a weird kind of warmth within him when Andrew’s smell envelops him. Andrew nods, “’Kay”.

While Andrew gets his own shirt on Neil steals another spoonful of ice cream before going back to movie night, or whatever that’s supposed to be. Nicky gasps again at the sight of Andrew’s jersey and Renee smiles knowingly.

He falls asleep on Andrew’s shoulder after he’s had a bit too much of rum and before the second movie’s finished.

iii.

They’re sharing an apartment a sensible amount of time away from their teams’ cities, which makes Neil even more thrilled about living with Andrew Minyard. The place isn’t a mess despite their lack of time, because they spend too much time practising and on actual games and never enough together. Andrew drives for about an hour every day Neil only a quarter of an hour less. He likes driving just for the sake of it, and now it also means coming home to Andrew, it’s even better.

It’s funny how living in the suburbs makes the press go away. Being surrounded by kids and football mums has some perks to it, and Neil’s grateful he doesn’t have to hide half the time since none of his neighbours seem that excited about Exy.

Not having the press around unless he’s on court means he can kiss Andrew when he opens the door if he can’t find his own keys, but it also means their relationship’s seen from a very different angle since they’re doing what they always do.

Neil doesn’t mean to be an asshole to Exy fans, of course, but he doesn’t care that much. He does mean to be an asshole, however, to the press whenever he has the chance to. That’s mainly why PR doesn’t exactly let him give interviews all that often. He’s only used it to _shit talk_ and complain about how invasive and unimaginative reporters are these days, and that’s when it starts.

Someone asks about the Foxes, his college team, and he talks briefly about how some of them chose to go pro, and some of them are still working with local teams, which is as kind as he gets until someone else asks about their pasts. Neil’s past is buried in the news by now simply because there’s not much else to add, but Andrew’s and Kevin’s are out there waiting to be talked about and he hates the idea of adding to it.

“You seem to still have a relationship with your old team, or at least that’s what you show on social media, except you don’t seem to have any communication with the Minyards” He laughs and he knows she’s right because he’s never talking to Aaron again if he can help it. He doesn’t even like Katelyn that much and he sincerely hopes she finds someone else that’s not an asshole, but whatever, not his problem, “In fact, you’ve a game in two weeks against Minyard’s team and you only seem to antagonise each other on twitter”.

“Well yeah, he’s good at antagonising” Sebastian answers, he’s the tallest goalkeeper he’s ever met and he makes bad jokes 24/7. He sort of reminds him of Matt, except Matt’s his best friend and no one will replace him. Neil likes fighting way too much, he can’t deny that so he just shrugs before leaving.

Andrew looks at him when the interview airs, and Neil shrugs again because it’s not the first time they’ve gone through that. People usually confuse the way they express how much they care for one another and their “I hate you”s for something stronger than feigned annoyance.

In two weeks’ time they’re gonna play against each other and it’s gonna be fun, he knows it, because it’s gonna make him try harder and harder to score.

Andrew’s team wins and Neil congratulates him with a smirk and a strong handshake. Andrew raises his eyebrow in response and doesn’t let go until Neil tugs. The press insists on how it was pure rivalry and hate on their eyes and touch except it was more way more related to angry sex than they could guess.

They’re sitting on the couch next to each other, or almost on each other, Andrew’s thighs resting on Neil’s, both their phones buzzing with notifications.

 **Neil Josten** @nei1josten

Some reporters need to shut the fuck up about my life.

 **Andrew Minyard** @ajminyard

       @nei1josten you’re the one who needs to shut the fuck

 **Neil Josten** @nei1josten

       @ajminyard I already congratulated you for your game, Minyard. You know what I’m talking about and you hate it too.

 **Andrew Minyard** @ajminyard       

       @nei1josten maybe if you didnt talk so much shit they wouldnt come up with dumb shit. they dont talk about me cuz im not stupid.

 **Neil Josten** @nei1josten

Seriously, a lot of people have their heads stuck up their asses.

 **Andrew Minyard** @ajminyard

       @nei1josten @ me next time josten

Neil huffs and gets his cold free hand under the hem of Andrew’s sweatpants and Andrew hisses at his touch before asking “Yes or no?” and kissing him angrily.

Theoretically, their solution should’ve been way more fun than it was, because he guessed everybody around Andrew would make a big deal out of him wearing Neil’s old foxes jersey they kept in the back of their closets for the sake of Neil’s emotional wellbeing, but they didn’t.

All in all, they hadn’t planned to come out at all, but they’d both talked to their PR teams beforehand to make sure they were okay to avoid press being even more awful than they usually were. Neil ends up wearing Andrew’s jersey the whole day long, at least before and after practice, and no one asks too much. Exy players are usually like that, too focused on their game to pay attention to the number Neil’s wearing on his old jersey.

 It should’ve been more fun, but instead of impressing and/or confusing people with it, the only thing Neil gets out of it is the cosiness that comes with Andrew’s smell all around him and the memories of the old times with the Foxes. He doesn’t take it off until he’s in bed, phone in his hand and Andrew tweeting right next to him when a notification pops up.

 **Andrew Minyard** @ajminyard

       @ne1ljosten everyones asking why youre wearing my jersey give it back josten

 **Neil Josten** @ne1ljosten

       @ajminyard laundry, give me mine back too.

 **Andrew Minyard** @ajminyard

       @ne1ljosten left it in the bathroom go get it yourself

Neil kisses him goodnight before plugging his phone to the charger, but none of them can sleep with their phones vibrating with new notifications for at least half an hour. It’s ridiculous, but Neil’s glad they chose to do it when he feels Andrew nuzzling the back of his neck.

iv. “Don’t you get bored of wearing that thing?” Andrew asks as he chops the vegetables to prepare their meal. He doesn’t dislike cooking that much and Neil sucks at cooking so much it impresses him.

Neil’s wearing Andrew’s jersey again and though Andrew pretends to be annoyed by that, it makes him feel a bit possessive and glad Neil understands how much he actually likes it. It isn’t about the smell of it or the reminder of Neil’s presence he likes about wearing it himself, it’s more about the times he’s fucked Neil with the jersey on. It’s not too tiny on him, but it makes his chest and arms look more muscular and Andrew hates it _so much._

Sir nuzzles Neil’s leg and purrs before Neil picks him up and kisses the top of his head. King meows asking for attention and Andrew rolls his eyes because they’re too annoying and needy to be normal cats.

“It’s gonna get all covered in cat hair, you’re gross” He complains before looking at Neil again. He looks dumb surrounded by their cats, in Andrew’s jersey with his name on the back and wearing only boxers underneath. His thighs are muscular and there’s only one scar there. Andrew suddenly wants to mark the skin there, “You’re so gross” He adds and goes back to chopping before Neil smirks at him. It’s annoying.

“I can change if you hate it so much” Neil suggests looking at him with pleading eyes. He’s so stupid sometimes, especially when it’s clear how comforting it is to wear that damn jersey.

 “Don’t” Andrew says in a serious voice, loud and clear and it makes Neil melt a little, “Orange looks shit on you anyways”

v.

Neil knows he should be used to it by now. It’s been a long time since they’ve stopped playing in the same team but it doesn’t make it any easier.

While it’s true he does no longer feel like he needs Andrew to protect him, it feels like something’s missing from his life when Andrew’s away. Home is still home, sure, but he gets cold while sleeping and the cats miss Andrew so much they sleep on his side of the bed until he gets back. Even Sir and King get awfully quiet when Andrew’s not there.

He usually eats out those days because he’s too bored to try, and though he doesn’t consider himself to be too emotional it affects him a little too much.

Andrew’ll be back in three days and he can’t wait, god he can’t wait to have his eyes on him and to hear his playful insults whenever he does something stupid because he’s too quiet when he’s by himself. Even twitter gets boring when Andrew doesn’t pick up a fight on his timeline.

He’s been wearing the ugly orange jersey with a ‘03’ on it for the last five hours and it makes him feel a bit better about it. He wants to tweet something about it too, but he stops himself deciding it’s nobody’s business anyway and it’ll pass.

He texts Andrew instead, sending him a picture of his reflection in the mirror.

_Miss you. If you don’t win that game don’t come back home tho._

_i wasnt planning on going back anyway n fuck you ive told you you look awful in orange_

_Seriously, get here soon before this thing gets gross and stops smelling like you._

_yours’ already gross but thats just bc it’s yours_

_Thank you, Andrew._

vi.

Neil would be lying if he said he hadn’t wanted to be in that place. He remembers thinking he wouldn’t make it, but now he’s there, holding his medal in his hands and wearing the US jersey, he feels proud of what he’s survived. He’s laughing and clapping and beaming next to their captain and Andrew’s not laughing or beaming, but he can see he’s slightly proud of himself too.

His jersey still has a ten on it and though he wishes for a moment it had any combination of Minyard Josten on it, the thought goes away before he can really grasp it and analyse if he really wants that. Andrew’s has a three and he’s so glad Andrew’s alive, living the most normal life he could ever picture himself having right next to him, sharing hotel rooms without people making faces or asking stupid things.

Andrew looks at him when the other goalie takes his medal in his hands and smiles brightly. He shrugs and congratulates Torres for his performance before walking toward Neil and inspecting his medal, tugging until Neil gives him a peck on the lips.

It’s stupid but the both of them feel real, having their own chosen names on their backs and a life to look forward to.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> As always, hope you enjoyed it, I couldn't get this out of my head today so I had to write it down and it feels so weird not to post anything in here for like two weeks (you know when you're finishing semesters @ uni and ur actually dying inside because you don't even have time to breathe yet you choose to write yet more andreil 5+1s), but I finally did it and I'm quite happy about it? I know each part gets shorter and shorter but LISTEN
> 
> Hey, I'm miycrdjcsten on tumblr and @cptjaylah on twitter. Comments and kudos are immensely appreciated.


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